Chest ironers, sometimes also referred to as bed ironers, are commonly used for drying and ironing of sheets, towels and other items with relatively large surfaces. The chest ironers are foremost used in various professional applications, such as in hotels, laundries etc.
The chest ironer may comprise a chest, e.g. of metal, with a concave side facing a cylinder. The chest is heated during the ironing process. A periphery of the cylinder is pressed against the concave side of the chest. When the cylinder is brought to rotate, an item to be ironed may be fed in between the cylinder and the concave side of the chest by the rotating movement of the cylinder.
When the item to be ironed follows the rotating movement of the cylinder, one side of the item is facing the chest and the other side of the item is facing the cylinder. The chest and the cylinder may be pushed together such that the item is pressed and retained between the chest and the cylinder until the entire item has passed through a passage between the chest and the cylinder.
During passage between the chest and the cylinder, the item is both dried and ironed due to the friction against the concave surface of the chest and a temperature of the chest. The temperature of the chest is normally 100-200 degrees Celsius before the chest is used for ironing and/or drying of items.
The chest may be heated e.g. by electrical resistance or by circulation of hot steam or fluid within channels of the chest. The chest may alternatively be heated by means of a gas burner acting on a convex side of the chest.
Known chest ironers may be suitable in some applications, but the heat from the chest ironer may in some situations be inefficient.